The Entomology
Research Museum is supported in part by a non-profit public
organization, the Friends of the Entomology Research Museum (a.k.a. FERM).
FERM has, among other missions, the desire to improve the quality of the
UCR collection by bringing in visiting curators, and to support field
trips that yield substantial numbers of useful specimens for the
collection. For both of these purposes, FERM has a system by which
grants can be obtained. Nominally, these awards are available only to
FERM members, but as membership
is only $10, this is essentially a formality.

Money for
Collecting Trip Awards is made available to members via applications
submitted to the FERM awards committee, through Doug
Yanega, and awards can be made up to $750 to help pay the costs
incurred on an expedition (the purpose of which is to obtain specimens
destined for the Museum's collection). The guidelines for a submission
are simple: a dated letter giving the identity and affiliation of the
person requesting the grant, the proposed itinerary of the trip and
anticipated expenses, the expected results (in terms of material donated
to the museum), and a statement - if applicable - indicating that all
state/federal/international collecting and permitting regulations
appropriate to the location and/or taxa involved will be complied with.
In general, the more exotic or unusual the locality, and the broader the
range of taxa collected (or, if it is targeted collecting, that the
target taxa are among the museum's primary interest groups - see here,
the more likely the proposal will be supported.

A similar
process is used for Visiting Curator Awards, so those wishing to visit
the Museum in order to identify and curate a portion of the collection
may also obtain up to $750 to help cover their expenses. The submission
guidelines are essentially identical: a dated letter giving the identity
and affiliation of the person requesting the grant, the proposed
itinerary of the visit and anticipated expenses, and the expected
results (in terms of material curated within the museum). Priority is
given to those curating larger numbers of specimens, and in taxa among
the museum's primary interest groups.